美国星期一下令60名被指责从事间谍活动的俄罗斯外交官员在一周内离开美国。白宫证实，包括法国、德国和波兰在内的至少23个国家驱逐了至少137名俄罗斯“情报人员。”
美国国务院的一份声明说，美国的举措以及关闭俄罗斯驻美国一家领事馆的决定是回应莫斯科“对化学武器公约肆无忌惮的违反以及对国际法的破坏”，事关在英国对一名前俄罗斯双重间谍及其女儿进行的神经毒剂攻击。
英国、其他西方国家以及北约指责俄罗斯制造了3月4日在索尔兹伯里发生的化学袭击事件。
一名美国高级官员解释白宫行动立场时说，俄罗斯一直发出“制造不稳定和攻击行动的鼓噪”。
美国责令俄罗斯驻太平洋港口城市华盛顿州西雅图市的领事馆于4月2号之前关闭，并说该领事馆与波音飞机制造工厂和一些弹道导弹核潜艇的母港基赛普海军基地太近。
有关官员说，上周二和普京进行电话交谈的川普总统参与了有关驱逐俄罗斯外交官的讨论。一位美国高级官员在与记者电话交谈时强调说，“这绝对是他的决定。”
The United States on Monday ordered 60 Russian diplomats it accuses of being spies to leave the country within a week. At least 23 other countries, including France, Germany and Poland, have expelled more than 137 Russian “intelligence personnel”, the White House has confirmed.
The U.S. move, along with the closure of a Russian consulate in the country, is in response to Moscow’s “outrageous violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and breach of international law,” involving the nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain, according to the State Department.
Britain, other Western nations and NATO also blame Russia for the March 4 chemical attack in Salisbury.
Russia has been sounding “a drum beat of destabilizing and aggressive actions,” said a senior U.S. official, explaining the White House actions.
The United States is ordering the closure, by April 2, of Russia’s consulate in the Pacific port city of Seattle in the state of Washington, noting its close proximity to the Boeing aircraft plant and the Kitsap Naval Base, the home port for some ballistic nuclear missile submarines.
President Donald Trump, who spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Tuesday, has been involved in the discussions to expel the diplomats, according to officials.
“This is absolutely his decision,” emphasized a senior U.S. official in the call with reporters.